A newly formed political party, Ghana Union Movement (GUM), has joined Ghana’s electoral train with the assurance to break the hold which the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have on the Ghanaian electorate.The party, which received its provisional certificate on September 24, 2019 from the Electoral Commission (EC) to commence operations is also hoping to unseat the governing NPP in the 2020 general election.

Founded by the Head Pastor and General Overseer of the Life Assembly Worship Centre in Accra, Rev Christian Kwabena Andrew, the party says it has begun preparation towards the 2020 elections.

Shaping democracy

At a press conference to announce its agenda for 2020, the founder of the party, Rev Andrew, said “our intention is not to sabotage any individual, government or political party but to contribute to the democratic shaping of Ghana’s development, especially the wellbeing of the citizens.”

“The party’s goal is to offer Ghanaians the best solutions to addressing the various economic challenges that have derailed Ghana’s development agenda,” he said.

Outlining some of the areas the party intended to focus on, Rev Andrew, who is also aiming to stand as a presidential candidate of the GUM, said the major areas would cover all aspects of development, including industrialisation, employment, education, health, sanitation and security.

He said Ghana’s development would never see the light of day unless the citizens elected leaders who would be willing to implement the right policies and programmes that would focus primarily on empowering the people to become productive.

Currently, Rev Andrew said, the NPP and the NDC had failed Ghanaians and it was time for the people to turn their attention to “a new and trustworthy party”.

Throwing more light on what the GUM intended to do in the area of employment, he said his leadership would move away from the “certificate-based economy to skills and ability-based economy”.

“The main target will not be to employ people with only certificates but those with skills that can help transform the country’s economy. Certificate would only be required in specialised areas,” Rev Andrew said.

Development agenda

On agriculture, he said, the GUM leadership would focus on revamping all abandoned state farms and also establish new ones to support the farmers in their quest to double their production.

In its first six months in office, Rev Andrew said a GUM government would make clearing of goods at the country’s port free for all Ghanaians.

Using Togo as an example, he said the country had made clearing of goods at the port free to allow more businesses to enter the country.

In the area of industrialisation, Rev Andrew said the country would abolish all the primitive ways of doing business and adopt a modernised system where production would be increased within a short period of time.

He said the dependence on primitive development methodologies had stifled effort made to enhance Ghana’s economic growth, adding that “we plan to continue the legacy left behind by Dr Kwame Nkrumah”.

Rev Andrew said the GUM leadership intended to create an African markets on the continent where the country could also sell its innovations and inventions to other countries.

Regarding education, he said the party planned to make it totally free up to the entrance into tertiary level, adding that tertiary education fees would be considered by the GUM government.

“The free education under GUM shall not be where only the government’s fee is free but the parent is indirectly billed to buy plenty items which are more costly than the school fees itself. If it is free, it must be totally free,” he added.